3 September 1923 – 9 September 1923

And I’m slightly dashed by the reception of my Conrad conversation, which has been purely negative. No one has mentioned it. I don’t think M. or B. quite approved. Never mind; to be dashed is always the most bracing treatment for me. A cold douche should lie taken (and generally is) before beginning a book. It invigorates; makes one say “Oh all right. I write to please myself” and so go ahead. It also has the effect of making me more definite and outspoken in my style, which I imagine all to the good. At any rate, I began for the fifth but last time, I swear, what is now to be called The Common Reader; and did the first page quite moderately well this morning. After all this stew, it’s odd how, as soon as I begin, a new aspect, never all this two or three years thought of, at once becomes clear; and gives the whole bundle a new proportion. To curtail, I shall really investigate literature with a view to answering certain questions about ourselves. Characters are to be merely views: personality must be avoided at all costs. I’m sure my Conrad adventure taught me this. Directly you specify hair, age etc. something frivolous, or irrelevant gets into the book, Dinner!